Movie Review: Definitely, Maybe

“Definitely, Maybe” seems like your average romantic comedy. Judging from the commercials, there are elements of love, humor and lovable characters. It is a story of a handsome leading man engaging in romantic relationships with three beautiful women in an attempt to find his true love. The only difference is that in this movie, he relives his experiences by sharing the story with his daughter so she can guess which woman turned out to be her mother.

The beginning of the movie was smart and sassy. The opening credits flashed across the screen as William Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) gets out of work and walks through the busy streets of Manhattan to go pick up his daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin), from school. To his horror, he discovered that the students had learned about sex that day. Upset about what she had learned, Maya demanded to know how she was conceived considering her parents are getting a divorce. This also leads her to wonder how relationships work if love is not required for two people to have sex.

That is where the plot begins but it is also where it ends. As Will’s story develops, his past girlfriends come to life but somewhere along the way, the plot disappears and the characters become lifeless and the relationships meaningless. Maya’s challenge of trying to figure out who her mother is turns into a boring, drawn-out mystery that doesn’t seem to end. The only thing that made sitting through the rest of the movie tolerable was the presence of Breslin, the adorable little girl from “Little Miss Sunshine.”